|
|||||
|
|
Engineering the Protein Corona Structure on Gold Nanoclusters Enables Red-Shifted Emissions in the Second Near-infrared Window for Gastrointestinal Imaging |
|
| Authors: | Dr Weili Wang Dr Yifei Kong Jun Jiang Qianqian Xie Yang Huang Guanna Li Di Wu Huizhen Zheng Meng Gao Shujuan Xu Yanxia Pan Wei Li Ronglin Ma Mei X Wu Xuehua Li Han Zuilhof Xiaoming Cai Prof Ruibin Li |
| Institution: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiological Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123 Jiangsu, China;2. Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114 USA
These authors contributed equally to this work.;3. Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024 China;4. Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Wageningen University, Stippeneng 4, 6703 WE Wageningen, The Netherlands Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia;5. Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114 USA;6. School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123 Jiangsu, China |
| Abstract: | The application of NIR-II emitters for gastrointestinal (GI) tract imaging remains challenging due to fluorescence quenching in the digestive microenvironment. Herein, we report that red-shifting of the fluorescence emission of Au nanoclusters (AuNCs) into NIR-II region with improved quantum yields (QY) could be achieved by engineering a protein corona structure consisting of a ribonuclease-A (RNase-A) on the particle surfaces. RNase-A-encapsulated AuNCs (RNase-A@AuNCs) displayed emissions at 1050 nm with a 1.9 % QY. Compared to rare earth and silver-based NIR-II emitters, RNase-A@AuNCs had excellent biocompatibility, showing >50-fold higher sensitivity in GI tract, and migrated homogenously during gastrointestinal peristalsis to allow visualization of the detailed structures of the GI tract. RNase-A@AuNCs could successfully examine intestinal tumor mice from healthy mice, indicating a potential utility for early diagnosis of intestinal tumors. |
| Keywords: | fluorescent probes gold nanoparticles protein corona red shift tumor imaging |